Waterproof stock feeder



E ATENT E.

JOHN OENES, 0F GARNER, AND CLARENCE HAL-VERSQN, 013" CLEAR LAKE, IOWA, AND DOLLNER 3. FOLEY, OF IVITNN'EAPOLIS, MINNESOTA,

WATERPROOF STOCK FEEDER.

Application filed August 17, 1921.

T 0 (NZ whom it may concem:

Be it known that we, JOHN Osnns, CLAR- ENC}; HAM Enema, and DULLNER S. FOLEY, citizens of the United States, said JOHN @sNns residing in Garner, county of Han cock, and State of Iowa; said DoLLN-En S. FOLEY residing in Minneapolis, county of liennepin, and State of Minnesota, and said CLARENCE TTAli-JERSON residing in Clear Lake, county of Cerro Gordo, and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Waterproof Stock Feeders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to feed boxes for salting or feeding stock, and particularly to that class of stock feeders embodying a feed trough or box having a hopper disposed above the trough and having swinging closures which are pushed in by the stock in order to get at the feed.

The general object of our invention is to provide a box for feeding salt or other material, which is very simple, and which is so constructed, that the salt, feed, or other material in the box will be protected from rain, the feed box being further so constructed, however, that the stock can readily get at the material in the feed box at any time.

A further object is to provide a construotion of this kind so constructed that all the operative members are thoroughly protected and the stock cannot get at these operative parts to disarrange them.

And afurther object is to so construct the bin which is disposed above the feed trough that material will feed down easily from the bin into the trough.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

Our invent-ion is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an end elevation of our im proved stock feeder;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof;

Figure 3 is a section .on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that our improved feed box comprises sides 10 having upwardly extending middle portions 11, the body of the box having ends 12 attached to the sides in any suitable manner and a bottom 13. The upwardly extending portions 11 of the sides 10 have their Specification of Letters Patent. Pgfl gntedl June 113, 155 22.,

Serial No. 493,130.

may be disposed, this feed compartment 15 opening into the trough '16. The trough 16, as will be seen, extends beyond the end boards 14 so as to provide feed openings 17 at each end of the trough. The upper edges of the body 10 around these feed openings are preferably covered with a strip of metal 18.

Hinged to the upper ends of the walls 14 are shields 19 of sheet metal having angularly bent wings 20 which extend over the sides of the feed box. Normally these closures are resiliently supported in such position that the lower edges of the closures extend slightly beyond the feed openings 17 so as to prevent rain from entering these feed openings. These shields 19 are resiliently supported in this position by means of a tongue or strip of metal 21, each of these strips or tongues at its middle being mounted upon a pintle 22 disposed in a recess 23 formed in the upper end of the corresponding board 14. At their lower ends these strips 21 have attached to them the transverse strips 24. The strips 21 are slightly angular in form and the upper ends of these strips are engaged by coiled contractile springs 25, each spring at one end being connected to the extremity of the tongue or strip 21 and then extending downward and laterally to the opposite end board 14 to which it is attached on the inside face. Whenan animal desires to feed, it simply pushes inward on the shield 19 so that this shield comes into approximate parallelism with the board 14, thus disclosing the opening 17. When the animal has finished feeding and moved away from the trough, the corresponding spring 25 will cause the closure; to spring outward, covering the opening 17 and preventing the inlet of rain or snow thereto. Preferably a deflector 26 is disposed on the bottom 13 just below the point 14, this member being triangular in cross section and acting to defleet the material falling down from the bin into opposite ends of the trough. The closures 19 are held from moving out too far by means of stop pins 27 with. which the lower angular edges of the wings 2O engage.

. In order to prevent the rain or snow from entering the upper end of the space 15 and yet at the same time permit ready access to be had to this space in order to fill it with the salt, feed or other material, we provide a cover or cap 28 which is in the form of a truncated pyramid, the front and rear walls of this cap extending down over the upper edges of the closures 19 and the side walls extending downward and outward beyond the upper corners of the sides 11, this cap being held in place in any suitable manner but preferably by the hooks 29 engaging eyes 30. It is to be noted that by this construction the springs 25 and the upper ends of the tongues or strips 21 are entirely protected from rain or snow as is the food placed within the feeder, and that normally and unless an animal is actually feeding, the openings 17 are protected by the shields 19 and that these shields, inasmuch as they extend downward and outward, will cause the rain or snow to slip off of the surface of the shield, thus preventing any lodging of the snow. Thus the feed is thoroughly protected at all times, while at the same time access may be had by animals to the feed and access may be had to the bin 15 in order to fill the bin or renew the supply of food. Inasmuch as the end boards 14 extend downward and outward, they will not check the descent of the feed.

lVhile this device is primarily designed for a salt box to be disposed within a pasture, it is obvious that its use is not limited to this but that it may be used as a feeding trough and that it may be made in various sizes and materials to suit different circumstances of operation. When the device is used as a salt box for containing food which is liable to coagulate, the lower ends of the shields 19 are provided with a transverse strip 31 having inwardly extending arms or cutters 32 which, as the shields are oscillated, will act to stir and break up the salt or other food disposed within the feed box.

We claim:

1. A feeding device of the character described comprising a trough having side walls provided with upward extensions at its middle, said upward extensions being provided with end walls to define a bin, a trough extending at each end beyond the bin portion, shields hinged to the upper ends of said walls and having wings extending over the outer faces of the side walls of the trough, springs urging said shields outward to a position wherein the shields will cover the projecting open ends of the trough, said shields being shiftable inward to disclose the upper open ends of the trough, and a detachable cap closing the upper end of the bin and extending over the upper ends of said shields.

release 2 In a feed box of the character described, a trough-shaped body, a bin disposed medially on the body, those portions of the trough-shaped body extending beyond the bin constituting feeding openings and said bin having downwardly and outwardly inclined sides, shields pivoted to the top of the bin and having angular wings extending over the side edges of the bin, strips disposed beneath the shields and extending over the top of the bin and pivoted midway of their ends, contractile springs connected to said strips and to the walls of the bin and acting to urge the lower ends of the strips outward and lift the shields to a position where they will'coverthe feed openings of the trough. and a cap having outwardly and downwardly flaring side walls disposed over the top of the bin, the side walls extending over the upper ends of said shields and over the side walls of the bin, and means for detachably holding the cap in place' 3. In a feeding box, a trough-shaped body having an upwardly extending bin disposed inward of the end of the body, the upper face of the body between the bin and the end wall being open, a normally downwardly and outwardly inclined shield hingedly connected to the upper end of the bin and normally covering the feed opening but shiftable inward against the bin to disclose the feed opening, springs yieldingly holding said shield in its normal posit-ion but permitting the shield tobe forced inward to disclose the feed opening, and feed agitators mounted upon the free edge of the shield and extending inward therefrom.

4. In a feed box, a trough-shaped body, a bin extending upward from the body but less in length than'the same whereby to provide feed openings at opposite ends of the trough-shaped body, shields hinged to the upper end of the bin and having angular wings disposed upon the exterior of the bin and body, strips pivoted to the upper end of the bin and each having one arm extending beneath one of the shields but unattached thereto whereby the shield may be lifted independently of the arm, stops normally preventing the lifting of the shield, springs attached to the inner ends of the strips and urging said strips outward to thereby urge the shields to a position protecting the feed openings of the trough, and a detachable cap closing the upper end of the bin and having downwardly flaring side walls extending over the upper ends of the shields.

In testimony whereof we hereunto afiix our signatures.

JOHNNY OSNES. CLARENCE HALVERSON. DOLLNER S. FOLEY. 

